You have to complete a French income tax form, Impôt sur le revenu, if you were a French resident in 2014 or if you had income from a French source in 2014, such as property rental, dividends or business income. In this article I will explain how auto-entrepreneurs and micro-entreprises complete the 2042 C PRO tax form.
The French income tax system is not based on a pay as you earn system, except for auto entrepreneurs under régime micro fiscal (impot liberatoire), and we declare and pay our income tax one year down the line. We are therefore about to declare the income earned in 2014 and will start paying this tax in October 2014. If you have declared any French income in 2013, you should automatically receive an Impôt sur le Revenu form via the post.
If you registered your auto-entrepreneur in 2014, you should receive an income tax form in the post. However sometimes there are mishaps and you may not receive the right form. You will need Declaration préremplie revenus 2014 - 2042 K and Declaration complementaire revenus 2104 - 2042 C PRO (Cerfa No11222*17) for your business income. If the second form is missing you can ask a copy from your Trésor Public office. If you have an entreprise individuelle under régime réel simplifié or an EIRL, EURL, SARL or SAS, I would advise you to get in touch with your accountant. This declaration is normally included in their yearly accountancy fees.
All French tax offices, called Centre des Finances Publiques or Trésor Public, provide free advice if you need help with your income tax forms. If you have any doubt about declaring various sources of income, such as interests from accounts abroad, pension, dividends earned abroad, I'd advise you get in touch with them.
1. Deadlines to complete your 2014 French income tax
- 26th May for departments 01 to 19.
- 2nd June for departments 20 to 49 (including Corsica).
- 9th June for departments 50 to 976.
Note that you will only be able to declare your 2014 French income tax online, provided you have already completed at least one paper declaration for your 2013 income tax.
You will need several references from your 2013 declaration, including numéro fiscal, numéro de télédéclarant and revenu fiscal de référence (all listed on your 2013 income tax attestation). Go to impots.gouv.fr to create your account. After you have submitted this information, a certificate will be issued to you. You will be able to log in within 24 hours and complete your declaration.
2. 2014 French income tax bands
The income tax of a family will vary according quotient familial, i.e. the number of persons within the household. The French income tax system lowers the amount of tax payable depending on this family quotient. An adult will for instance reprensent 1 part fiscale and a child will represent 0.5 part fiscale. A married couple or a couple under a civil union (PACS) will complete the same declaration (one column each, under déclarant 1 and declarant 2), while and a couple living together with no legal link will have to complete two separate forms. A married couple with two children will for instance have 3 parts fiscales. Here is a table summarising the quotient familial.
The household income divided by the number of family quotient will then be submitted to a tax band, with a different taxation rate being applied as the income increase. Here are the 2014 income tax bands called barème d’imposition des revenus:
- 0 to 9,690 euros- income not taxable
- 9,690 euros to 26,764 euros taxed at 14%
- 26,764 euros to 71,754 euros taxed at 30%
- 71,754 euros to 151,956 euros taxed at 41%
- Over 151,956 euros taxed at 45%
3. Income tax forms you might need
Here is a list of the various forms that you'll need to declare your income according to your personal situation:
- Declaring employees’ income: Déclaration des Revenus 2014 (example of the 2014 form 2042). If you are employed in France, your salary should already be pre-filled in this 2014 income tax form. Form 2042 K Cerfa No 10330 * 19.
- Declaring your auto-entrepreneur, micro entreprise, house rental or entreprise individuelle income: complémentaire de revenus 2014 professions non salariées. Form 2042 C Pro Cerfa No 11222 * 17.
- Declaring income earned and taxed abroad: des revenus encaisses à l’etranger 2014 (form 2047)
- Declaring income from rented properties: fonciers 2014 (form 2044)
4. Adding your auto-entrepreneur turnover on form 2042 C PRO (Cerfa No11222 * 17)
If you have opted for the income tax paid at source, impot libératoire, also called régime micro fiscal, you have already declared and paid your income tax on a monthly or quarterly basis for your income earned in 2014. However, you still need to declare your overall turnover on the Déclaration de revenus complémentaire professions non salariees form 2042 C PRO.
You will not be taxed again, but Impôts will take into account your business income, in order to assess your overall household income, called Assiette de revenus. This will for example be taken into account to check that you can remain within the regime micro fiscal in 2016. Caisse d’Allocations Familiales will also take this amount into account to work out your family allowance (housing or child allowances).
4.1 Attestion fiscale 2014 regime auto-entrepreneur
If you registered as an auto-entrepreneur, you should also have received a form from URSSAF or RSI entitled Attestation fiscale 2014 régime auto-entrepreneur. This form confirms the turnover you declared in 2014 and confirms the amount that you should add to your French income tax form. The table also lists the cell reference in which you have to add your turnover, for instance 22,000 euros in cell 5HQ.
Double check with your own URSSAF / RSI turnover declarations that the turnover indicated for 2014 montant des recettes is correct. If not, get in touch with URSSAF / RSI and ask them to correct and re-issue the attestation fiscal. You will not have to return the attestation fiscal with your income tax declaration, but you will need to keep a copy as a proof for the future.
If you are using Net-Entreprises.fr, you will also be able to download a copy of your attestation fiscale under under Echanges avec mon Urssaf / Demande attestation / Attestation Fiscale.
4.2 General information
If the 2042 C Pro form was not pre filled for you, start by adding in the first section entitled Revenus et plus values des professionnels non salaries – Identification des personnes exerçant une activité non salariée:
- Your name and surname (prénom, nom de l’exploitant).
- Your business address (adresse de l’exploitation).
- Your SIRET number.
- Tick your type of income, i.e. BIC Benefices Industriels et Commerciaux for trade and manual services or BNC Beneficie Non Commerciaux for professions liberales.
- Tick your tax regime regime d’imposition i.e. auto-entrepreneur or micro entreprise.
- If you closed your business down in 2014, indicate the closure date.
If you're married or pacsed and have a micro entreprise or auto-entrepreneur each, you will fill in the same form and used both columns across the form declarant 1 and declarant 2.
4.3 You chose regime micro fiscal
Go to page 1 on the section titled auto-entrepreneur ayant opté pour le versement libératoire de l’impôt sur le revenu. Add your turnover cashed in 2014 in the appropriate box according to your activity. Do not apply any rebate to your turnover.
For Trading Activities go to Revenus Industriels et Commerciaux Professionnels (BIC)/ Chiffre d’affaires brut:
- 5TA Vente de marchandises: add your total sales of goods.
- 5TB Prestation de services et locations meublés: add your total sales for manual services and furnished houses rented.
For Professions Liberales go to Benefices Non Commerciaux, e.g. teaching, translating, consultants, manual services.
- 5TE revenus non commerciaux under Recettes brutes.
4.4 You did not choose regime micro fiscal
If you have not opted to pay your income tax at source, you will come under regime micro entreprise. Here is how to declare your 2014 business income on form 2042 C PRO.
For Trading Activities go to page 2 under Revenus Industriels et Commerciaux Professionnels (top page). Go to regime micro entreprise, add your turnover cashed in in 2014 chiffre d’affaires brut under the relevant box:
- 5KO Vente de marchandises: add your total sales of goods.
- 5KP Prestation de services et locations meublés: add your total sales here for manual services and furnished houses including gites and chambres d’hotes.
For Professions Liberales , e.g. teachers, translators, consultants, go to page 3 under Revenus Non Commerciaux Professionnels (BNC). Go to the sub-section titled Regime declaratif special ou micro BNC:
- Add your 2014 turnover in box 5HQ Revenus imposables.
Do not apply any rebate to your turnover.
How impots calculates your income tax under regime micro entreprise
You are requested to add your 2014 sales called recettes or chiffre d’affaires, without applying any deduction or rebate. Impôts will then apply a standard rebate to your turnover, based on your activity type, in order to calculate your taxable income called revenu fiscal. Rebates applied to micro entreprise based on your activity are:
- Rebate of 71% for trade (vente de marchandises).
- Rebate of 50% for services (manual services).
- Rebate of 34% for professions liberales (BNC).
If you are not sure how to declare your income, get in touch with your local Impot office to get help. Impots will clarify how to add you pension, property rental, tax credit, investments, dividends, etc. They are usually very helpful at this time of the year.